''Your Highness'' is a 2011 American
stoner comic fantasy
Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy.
Literature
The subgenre rose ...
film directed by
David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green is an American filmmaker. He directed the dramas ''George Washington'' (2000), '' All the Real Girls'' (2003), and '' Snow Angels'' (2007), as well as the thriller '' Undertow'' (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote.
In ...
. It stars
Danny McBride
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He starred in the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'', '' Vice Principals'', and ''The Righteous Gemstones'', also co-creating th ...
,
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...
,
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
,
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film '' Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for h ...
and
Justin Theroux
Justin Paul Theroux (; born August 10, 1971) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) and the thriller film ''Inland Empire'' (2006). He also ...
. Written by McBride and
Ben Best
Benjamin Terrell Best (September 11, 1974 – September 10, 2021) was an American actor, writer, musician, and producer.
Best attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with frequent collaborator ...
, the film was released on April 8, 2011. It follows an arrogant prince and his brother on a quest to kill the sorcerer and save the bride and their father's kingdom. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing $28 million worldwide against a $50 million budget.
Plot
Thadeous and Fabious are sons of King Tallious in the Kingdom of Mourne. Fabious is dashing and skilled and Thadeous is lazy and ineffectual. While celebrating victory over the evil sorcerer, Leezar, who has been ravaging Tallious's kingdom, Fabious presents the virgin Belladonna whom he has freed from a tower and wishes to marry.
Though his brother makes him best man, Thadeous skips the wedding after overhearing Fabious' Knights Elite, led by Boremont, talk about him negatively. The wedding is then crashed by Leezar, who admits being the one who placed Belladonna in the tower. Leezar re-kidnaps her and flees. Returning to the castle with his servant and best friend Courtney, Thadeous is given an ultimatum: join Fabious on his quest to rescue Belladonna or be banished.
Visiting the Great Wize Wizard, Thadeous and Fabious learn that Leezar's goal is to fulfill a prophecy: a warlock having sex with a virgin when the two moons converge, will impregnate her with a dragon that will allow him to take over King Tallious' kingdom. To destroy Leezar, they are given a magic compass that will lead them to the Blade of Unicorn, located within a labyrinth. On the way there, they learn Fabious's eunuch slave, Julie, has been informing Leezar of their progress and the Knights Elite are serving the warlock.
After the knights are killed and he escapes, Fabious sends his mechanical bird Simon to warn the king of the betrayal by the Knights Elite, requesting reinforcements. Thadeous, Fabious and Courtney are captured by wild women led by the savage warlord Marteetee, who imprisons them in an arena, where Fabious kills off Marteetee's finest warrior. In retaliation, Marteetee summons a
hydra-like monster to kill them. The brothers are rescued by Isabel, a warrior seeking revenge for her father's murder at Marteetee's hands.
Later that night, Thadeous learns Isabel is also after Leezar to avenge the slaughter of her brothers. The next day, the party learns too late that Isabel stole the compass from Thadeous. Fabious, finally angered by his brother's selfishness, decides to find the Blade of Unicorn alone. Thadeous and Courtney go to a tavern, where they find Isabel and retrieve the compass. Finding that his brother has been captured by Leezar's men, Thadeous wins Isabel over as they join forces, entering the labyrinth where they encounter a
Minotaur.
After becoming separated from the others, Thadeous retrieves the Blade of Unicorn and slays the Minotaur. Thadeous and his group make their way to Leezar's castle and free Fabious, giving him the Blade. As the others kill off Julie, Boremont and his men and Leezar's three witches, Fabious impales Leezar with the Blade of Unicorn, preventing him from raping Belladonna.
After their victory, Isabel leaves for another quest and the heroes return home. Some time later, Fabious and Belladonna marry, while Thadeous is approached by a returning Isabel, who reveals that she has fallen in love with him. However, for them to have sex, he must first slay the witch who has cast a spell on her, locking her in a
chastity belt. Though not in the mood to go out, Isabel's suggestion convinces him to go on a new adventure.
Cast
*
Danny McBride
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He starred in the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'', '' Vice Principals'', and ''The Righteous Gemstones'', also co-creating th ...
as Prince Thadeous
*
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...
as Prince Fabious
*
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
as Isabel
*
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film '' Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for h ...
as Belladonna
*
Justin Theroux
Justin Paul Theroux (; born August 10, 1971) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) and the thriller film ''Inland Empire'' (2006). He also ...
as Leezar
*
Toby Jones
Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama '' Orlando'' in 1992. H ...
as Julie
*
Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...
as Boremont
*
Rasmus Hardiker
Rasmus Hardiker (born 31 January 1985) is a British actor, best known for voicing Scott and Alan Tracy in the reboot animated television series '' Thunderbirds Are Go''. He played Raymond in Steve Coogan's sitcom ''Saxondale'' and Ben in the Ja ...
as Courtney
*
Caroline Grace-Cassidy as Handmaiden
*
Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...
as Manious the Bold
*
Deobia Oparei
DeObia Oparei (born 7 December 1971) is a British actor and playwright. He is best known for his roles as the Gunner in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' (2011), Rongo in ''Dumbo'' (2019), and as Boastful Loki in ''Loki'' (2021). ...
as Thundarian
*
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in '' The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in '' ...
as King Tallious
*
John Fricker as Marteetee
* Matyelok Gibbs,
Angela Pleasence
Daphne Anne Angela Pleasence (born 30 September 1941) is an English actress. Trained in theatre, Pleasence's first major film role came in '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), followed by roles in horror films such as ''From Beyond the Grave'' ...
and Anna Barry as Helinda, Sariah and Marlyne, Leezar's three Mothers
*
Charles Shaughnessy
Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy (born 9 February 1955) is a French actor. He is known for his roles on American television, including Shane Donovan on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', and Maxwell Sheffield on th ...
as Narrator / Soul of the Labyrinth
*
Rhian Sugden,
Amii Grove
Amii Anne J. Grove (born 5 September 1985) is an English former glamour model and Page 3 girl. She has appeared in publications such as '' The Sun'', '' Nuts'', ''Zoo Weekly'', ''FHM'' and the ''Hot Shots Calendar''.
Life and career
Grove was bo ...
and
Madison Welch
Madison Welch (born 27 August 1988) is an English former glamour model and Page 3 girl. She has made several appearances in lads mags such as ''Zoo Weekly''.
She made an appearance on an episode of BBC's ''Top Gear'' in 2009 as James May's c ...
as Forest Women
Production
The film had been a passion project of Green's for a long time, with him later calling it, "an entirely self-indulgent dream project for the 11-year-old in me."
Although marketed as a
spoof
Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to:
* Forgery of goods or documents
* Semen, in Australian slang
* Spoof (game), a guessing game
* Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets
__NOTOC__ ...
of '80s fantasy movies,
Green has said that this was not his intent. Instead he hoped to, with star Danny McBride, "put our stamp on it and bring our sensibility to it, but work within the genre."
Early on, according to Green, Universal was nervous about the prospects of the film, believing it to be a parody. However, their minds were eased when discussing the casting, "and that we weren't filling it with comedian cameos."
Filming
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...
began in the summer of 2009 in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, at historic locations such as
Dunluce Castle
Dunluce Castle (; ) is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland, the seat of Clan MacDonnell. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim (between Portballintrae and Portrush), and is accessible via a bridge conn ...
,
Cairncastle
Carincastle or Cairncastle (, and the English word "castle") is a small village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland near the town of Larne and inland from the village of Ballygally. It had a population of 66 people in the 2001 Cen ...
and
Shane's Castle
Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, having been destroyed by fire in 1816. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the Clandeboy O'Neill dynasty, it was ...
, and it concluded in October 2009. Although Green wanted to make the film epic in scale, they were hampered by a limited budget.
Ad libbing and
improv were encouraged on set, although Green has implied that the extent of this has been exaggerated, adding, "There was definitely more of a script here than anything I’ve ever worked on".
Still, at least one notable part of the backstory was improvised, which was the idea that the Wizard
molested
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
James Franco's character as a youth.
McBride has said that he was certain that the scene where this was revealed would be cut, and he was shocked when it appeared in the final film.
Marketing
A
red-band trailer
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
was released on
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
and
Funny or Die
Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...
. On December 21, 2010, a green-band trailer was released online, and shown before screenings of ''
Little Fockers
''Little Fockers'' (known as ''Meet the Parents: Little Fockers'' in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and the third and final film in the ''Meet the Parents'' film series, serving as a sequel to ''Meet the Par ...
'' and ''
The Dilemma
''The Dilemma'' is a 2011 American dark comedy film directed by Ron Howard, written by Allan Loeb and starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. The film follows savvy businessman Ronny (Vaughn) and genius engineer Nick (James) who are best friends ...
''.
On March 23, 2011, a second red-band trailer was released.
Reception
Box office
''Your Highness'' opened on April 8, 2011 in 2,772 theaters nationwide and made $9,360,020 in its opening weekend, ranking number six in the domestic box office. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $21,596,445 in the United States and Canada and $6,417,288 overseas for a worldwide total of $28,013,733.
Critical reception
''Your Highness'' received negative reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds a rating of 28%, based on 179 reviews, with an average rating of 4.27/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Big budgets and costumes in service of scatalogical jokes may seem funny on paper, but in execution this is a highly monotonous romp that registers only occasional laughs." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Roger Ebert gave the film one star out of four, calling it "juvenile excrescence that feels like the work of 11-year-old boys in love with dungeons, dragons, warrior women, pot, boobs and four-letter words." ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave it a C+, with Natalie Portman favorably reviewed as "fierce and funny as a babe warrior...good with dirty words". The ''L.A. Times'' noted the "even but fun sword-and-sandals sendup...is at its best when it's at its silliest", while the
lowbrow humor
Low comedy, also known as lowbrow humor, in association to comedy, is a dramatic or literary form of popular entertainment without any primary purpose other than to create laughter through boasting, boisterous jokes, drunkenness, scolding, fi ...
is "sometimes witless and sometimes winning comedy...begins with grade-school-level graffiti being scrawled across storybook pages and goes up and down from there. Still, the fun can be infectious...a farce within a farce...tawdry tale of the bothered and bewildered Kingdom of Mourne".
David Edelstein
David Edelstein (born 1959) is a freelance American film critic who has been the principal film critic for ''Slate'' and ''New York'' magazine, among others, and has appeared regularly on NPR's ''Fresh Air'' and ''CBS Sunday Morning'' programs. O ...
of ''
New York'' magazine gave a favorable review, describing the film as "a cunning weave of low and high".
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...
described the "Raunchy Sex Comedy Wrapped Up in a Noble Quest" as "overall, sets and scenery were fantastic and photography was incredible...a awesome, piece of foolishness wrapped up as a Period Piece...more in common with ''
American Pie'' than it did to ''
Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''.
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects.
He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...
, who admired McBride's and Green's earlier work, said he felt a "kind of head-swiveling awe in ''Your Highness''‘s concentration of aimless inanity, in the purity of its devotion to its own
louche principles. Like members of some post-
Dadaist
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...
collective, the filmmakers have dedicated themselves to memorializing every first, wrong impulse that popped into their heads, while ruthlessly excising any vestige of wit or narrative niceties as being too linear, dude."
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...
received a
Razzie
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
nomination for
Worst Supporting Actor for the film, but lost to
Al Pacino in ''
Jack and Jill
"Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...
''.
James Franco would later poke fun at the film's poor reception during his
Comedy Central Roast
''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. On average one or two roasts air every year. T ...
, saying "I agreed to do this roast because I wanted to do something I've never done before — something that has zero artistic value, something nobody will remember three months from now, something that's offensive, homophobic, and stars horrifically untalented people and something that's only a big deal to a handful of teenage stoners on Twitter. You might say, 'James, didn't you just describe ''Your Highness''?' I wouldn't know, I didn't see ''Your Highness''." On his first-ever interview on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'' to promote the film ''
Spring Breakers
''Spring Breakers'' is a 2012 American comedy crime film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine. Gomez, Hudgens, Benson and Korine portray four college ...
'', Franco was surprised to hear Stern compliment ''Your Highness'', asking incredulously, "you liked that?" He attributed the film's lackluster performance to its "tricky" blend of lowbrow humor and medieval swords and sorcerers, a combination that hadn't worked well since ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Your Highness
2011 films
2010s adventure comedy films
2010s buddy films
2010s fantasy comedy films
2010s sex comedy films
American adventure comedy films
American buddy films
American fantasy comedy films
American sex comedy films
2010s English-language films
Films scored by Steve Jablonsky
Films directed by David Gordon Green
Films produced by Scott Stuber
Films set in castles
Films set in the Middle Ages
Films shot in Northern Ireland
Universal Pictures films
Incest in film
Films about rape
American sword and sorcery films
Films about wizards
Stoner films
2011 comedy films
2010s American films